E-Business Solver Seeks Agency

Metamor Worldwide of Houston Initiates a $10-15 Mil. Review DALLAS--Metamor Worldwide is searching for an agency to handle a $10-15 million initial corporate branding effort. The Houston-based company, with sales of more than $500 million, is engaged in a number of high-tech enterprises, including e-business solutions, computer network integration and training, systems maintenance, resource planning implementation and process improvement. Pile and Co. of Boston has been retained to conduct the review. Vice president of marketing Todd Brinegar is managing the process on the client side. Neither Pile nor Brinegar were available to comment at press time. An agency source said the client has narrowed the field to between three and six finalists. A Metamor representative said that previous advertising efforts have been limited to field marketing. The spokesperson noted that the selected agency will be the client's first advertising partner. The spokesperson was unable to say what effect, if any, Metamor's acquisition by Internet service provider PSINet last week would have upon the review in progress. PSINet's ad account is currently at Trone Advertising in Greensboro, N.C. Metamor (formerly Corestaff) has grown quickly in recent years through an aggressive acquisition strategy. It now has 6,000 employees, most of whom work as consultants in 84 offices in the U.S., Australia, Europe and India. The company recently sold its non-core staffing, software design and ancillary units to focus solely on IT services. The acquisition by Herndon, Va.-based PSINet was designed to create a global, business-focused Internet company able to provide turn-key solutions ranging from Web design to applications outsourcing. The new business combination also gives PSINet a controlling interest in Metamor's publicly traded e-business solutions subsidiary, Xpedior Inc. Said William Schrader, PSINet chairman and chief executive officer: "The acquisition of Metamor Worldwide furthers our plans to move into the applications outsourcing arena and enables us to offer our customers everything they need to do business on the Web. Metamor's services provide an excellent complement to our global hosting capabilities . . . They bring us a talented and formidable team." K

Metamor Worldwide of Houston Initiates a $10-15 Mil. Review DALLAS--Metamor Worldwide is searching for an agency to handle a $10-15 million initial corporate branding effort. The Houston-based company, with sales of more than $500 million, is engaged in a number of high-tech enterprises, including e-business solutions, computer network integration and training, systems maintenance, resource planning implementation and process improvement. Pile and Co. of Boston has been retained to conduct the review. Vice president of marketing Todd Brinegar is managing the process on the client side. Neither Pile nor Brinegar were available to comment at press time. An agency source said the client has narrowed the field to between three and six finalists. A Metamor representative said that previous advertising efforts have been limited to field marketing. The spokesperson noted that the selected agency will be the client's first advertising partner. The spokesperson was unable to say what effect, if any, Metamor's acquisition by Internet service provider PSINet last week would have upon the review in progress. PSINet's ad account is currently at Trone Advertising in Greensboro, N.C. Metamor (formerly Corestaff) has grown quickly in recent years through an aggressive acquisition strategy. It now has 6,000 employees, most of whom work as consultants in 84 offices in the U.S., Australia, Europe and India. The company recently sold its non-core staffing, software design and ancillary units to focus solely on IT services. The acquisition by Herndon, Va.-based PSINet was designed to create a global, business-focused Internet company able to provide turn-key solutions ranging from Web design to applications outsourcing. The new business combination also gives PSINet a controlling interest in Metamor's publicly traded e-business solutions subsidiary, Xpedior Inc. Said William Schrader, PSINet chairman and chief executive officer: "The acquisition of Metamor Worldwide furthers our plans to move into the applications outsourcing arena and enables us to offer our customers everything they need to do business on the Web. Metamor's services provide an excellent complement to our global hosting capabilities . . . They bring us a talented and formidable team." K